Senate panel: NY needs addiction treatment professionals

NY News

Oct 25, 2018

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York state Senate panel is recommending the state do more to recruit and train health care professionals who work with recovering addicts.
That’s one of 11 recommendations included in a report issued Wednesday by the Senate’s Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction.
Other suggestions include more monitoring of opioid prescriptions and changes intended to expand access to overdose antidotes and alternative pain medication such as medical marijuana.
Another recommendation would limit initial opioid prescriptions for pain to three days, down from the current seven day maximum.
The task force was created to examine the state’s ongoing addiction epidemic and find ways to improve the state’s response. The group held hearings throughout the state and heard from former addicts, treatment experts and community advocates.